During the TechVoice D.C. Fly-In yesterday, David Dimmett of Project Lead The Way presented this eye-opening statistic: Nine out of every 10 high schools in the country don’t offer computer science. With that in mind, a panel debated how the IT industry can help drive STEM success in the U.S.
Project Lead the Way prepares students for the global economy. With five programs of study for kindergarten through high school, the company trains teachers. Grades K-5 participate in the launch program; middle schoolers have the gateway program; and then high schoolers follow three paths: computer science, biomedical science and engineering.
“For us STEM isn’t science, tech, engineering and math; it’s the power of those four coming together,” Dimmett said. “We need to get kids involved early – at the elementary school level.”
Dimmett also noted that girls don’t participate in enough STEM programs and that part of that trend comes from students not wanting to fail. Instead we need to provide a safe environment for them to experience STEM. If math looks hard, then students will avoid it because they’re afraid to fail. Dimmitt discussed how Davidson High School in Ohio introduced an all-girls section of STEM courses so that the girls didn’t feel like they would look foolish in front of the boys.
Another panelist, Rick Geritz of LifeJourney LLC, said, “STEM is not a degree; it’s a capability within all of us.” He asked the audience, “How do we get students on a STEM journey? What steps do they need to take?”
“More than 8,300 kids drop out of school every day, and some of them are wicked smart,” Geritz said. LifeJourney shows kids what a career in STEM would look like with real-life examples. Geritz related a story of one school in Baltimore, and how when a group of its students passed their IT certifications, they got a banner and hung it next to the school’s sports championship banners. When STEM rates up there with sports and is highlighted in that context with schools and students, we’re on the road to success.
Albert Palacios of the Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education at the U.S Department of Education, commented that when he visits schools, he sees that everyone has phones, but if he asked who can code apps, no one raises their hands. “We need to differentiate between consuming the technology and how to build it,” Palacios said. “Often we see youth disconnected from STEM because they don’t see the relevance.”
The panel’s moderator, Randi Parker, director of public advocacy at CompTIA, asked what the audience should request of their legislators to improve STEM success. “We’re going to have a critical dearth of computer science teachers,” Dimmett said. “Teacher licensing is not the same in all regions. We need to dedicate funds from government to programs with proven results.”
Geritz said under one percent of all students get an internship. Without an internship, they often also lose a chance with a mentor too. Social media has allowed mentorship to truly scale up beyond the typical school career day.
“Mentors put the human aspect on a career,” Geritz said. “At the rate we’re going it will take 12 to 15 years to introduce STEM to all students. We need to shrink that window.”
